The invention relates to microphone positioning in a vehicle for voice communication and in particular to the positioning, of a microphone for voice communication, on the diagonal shoulder strap of a seat belt.
In the development of the technology of providing a microphone through which a voice communication from a person is transferred to a processor, it has been found that advantages are gained where the microphone is positioned as close to the mouth of the communicating person as possible.
There has been some attention in the art related to the subject of microphone positioning. In U.S. Design Pat. Des. No. 310,082 an ornamental design is shown in which a microphone is positionable on a seatbelt. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,040,547 a large clip places a microphone where desired such as on an article of clothing or a belt. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,602,928 a communication system for a vehicle is shown wherein the error microphone is mounted on or in a seatbelt. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,126,827 an assembly is shown for mounting a microphone on the steering wheel of a vehicle; and in U.S. Pat. No. 4,991,220 a vibration dampening clip structure is shown for mounting a microphone.
Heretofore in the art no attention has been paid to the acoustic advantages in verbal communication gained in mounting a microphone on a diagonal seatbelt and that the microphone position be always the same and that there be no interference by the microphone with the use of the seatbelt.
A desirable situation would be to have the microphone mounted at the most beneficial location on the seatbelt for voice communication and to have the microphone mounting on the seatbelt be such that it did not interfere with the communicating person or that anything extra was required of the communicating person.
In the invention, a slider microphone holder is positioned on a diagonal seatbelt so that the microphone is located at the same place on the person wearing the seatbelt when the seatbelt is deployed after being retracted The invention operates to position the microphone at the same precise location for favorable vocal transmission at each deployment, and to return the assembly to a storage position with no additional attention being required on the part of the communicating person.
In an embodiment a tethering function is achieved using a tape that is narrower than the diagonal seat belt web, and attaching the tape to establish a specific dimension along the web when the web is deployed. The tethering strap is fastened on an extra cross bar on the seatbelt hanger. The slider has a face portion with two curved around portions that provide a slot that accommodates the diagonal seatbelt, and is positioned on the diagonal seatbelt. The slider has a microphone on the face thereof, pointed upward toward where the user""s mouth would be.
The narrower tethering tape follows the underside of the diagonal seatbelt web to the buckle, is fastened to the back of the slider at a distance from the buckle that establishes the microphone location on the sternum of the person wearing the seatbelt, and continues to the seatbelt hanger.